How did Penn State wrestling win another national team title? See bout-by-bout results
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2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships
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The NCAA Wrestling Championships came to a close Saturday night as four Penn State wrestlers earned national titles at their respective weight classes.
The champs included Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197).
The Nittany Lions also won their fifth straight team title by finishing with a record-breaking 181.5 points. They broke the mark they set last year in Philadelphia by 4.5 points.
Below are Penn State’s and local wrestlers’ bout-by-bout results:
Session 6 (Saturday)
Team key: Air Force (AF), American (A), Appalachian State (AS), Arizona State (ASU), Army West Point (AWP), Bellarmine (BM), Binghamton (BH), Bloomsburg (BB), Brown (B), Bucknell (BN), Buffalo (BF), Cal Poly (CP), Central Michigan (CM), Chattanooga (CT), Columbia (CB), Cornell (C), Davidson (DS), Drexel (DX), Duke (D), Edinboro (E), Franklin & Marshall (FM), Gardner-Webb (GW), George Mason (GM), Harvard (H), Illinois (IL), Indiana (ID), Iowa (I), Iowa State (ISU), Kent State (KS), Lehigh (L), Little Rock (LR), Lock Haven (LH), Maryland (MD), Michigan (M), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (Miss.), Morgan State (MS), Navy (N), Nebraska (Neb.), North Carolina (NC), North Carolina State (NCS), North Dakota State (ND), Northern Colorado (NCO), Northern Illinois (NIU), Northern Iowa (NI), Northwestern (NW), Ohio (O), Ohio State (OSU), Oklahoma (OK), Oklahoma State (OKS), Oregon State (ORS), Penn (P), Penn State (PSU), Pittsburgh (Pitt.), Princeton (PT), Purdue (PD), Rider (RD), Rutgers (R), SIU Edwardsville (SIE), South Dakota State (SD), Stanford (S), The Citadel (TC), Utah Valley (UV), Virginia (V), Virginia Tech (VT), VMI (VMI), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (W), Wyoming (WY)
125 pounds, finals: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. Marc-Anthony McGowan, PT, 2-1
197 pounds, finals: Josh Barr, PSU, dec. Cody Merrill, OKS, 6-3. Penn State’s a new scoring mark at 177.5 points with one wrestler to go.
184 pounds, finals: Max McEnelly, MN, dec. Rocco Welsh, PSU, 4-3
174 pounds, finals: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Christopher Minto, Neb., 2-1
165 pounds, finals: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Michael Caliendo, I, 20-4 (5:12)
149 pounds, finals: Aden Valencia, S, dec. Shayne Van Ness, PSU, 8-5 (SV)
Session 5 (Saturday)
The Nittany Lions saw true freshmen Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke reach the consolation finals Saturday morning after suffering losses in Friday night’s semifinals. Duke came away with a third-place finish as Blaze finished fourth.
With Blaze’s win in the consolation semifinals and a loss from Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley in the consolation semifinals, the Nittany Lions clinched the team title. They have 164 points as a team, which is only 13 points away from the NCAA record held by Penn State.
133 pounds, consolation finals: Aaron Seidel, VT, dec. Marcus Blaze, PSU, 5-0
157 pounds, consolation finals: PJ Duke, PSU, tech. fall Brandon Cannon, OSU, 20-4 (6:37)
157 pounds, consolation semifinals: PJ Duke, PSU, dec. Kannon Webster, IL, 7-3
133 pounds, consolation semifinals: Marcus Blaze, PSU, tech. fall Tyler Knox, S, 20-4 (5:45). With Blaze’s win and a loss from Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley, the Nittany Lions clinched the team title.
Session 4 (Friday)
The Nittany Lions amassed 153 points to outpace Oklahoma State by 41.5 points.
Bellefonte grad Jude Swisher came up one win shy of becoming an All-American for the second straight season.
197 pounds, semifinals: Josh Barr, PSU, major dec. Joey Novak, WY, 14-3
184 pounds, semifinals: Rocco Welsh, PSU, dec. Brock Mantanona, M, 4-3
174 pounds, semifinals: Levi Haines, PSU, tech. fall Patrick Kennedy, I, 18-3 (7:00)
165 pounds, semifinals: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Cesar Alvan, CB, 15-0 (4:11)
157 pounds, semifinals: Landon Robideau, OKS, dec. PJ Duke, PSU, 3-1 (UTB2)
149 pounds, semifinals: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, tech. fall Chance Lamer, Neb., 22-1 (5:21)
157 pounds, consolation fourth round: Brandon Cannon, OSU, major dec. Jude Swisher, P, 16-3. With the loss, Swisher is eliminated and comes up one win shy of being an All-American for the second straight season.
133 pounds, semifinals: Ben Davino, OSU, dec. Marcus Blaze, PSU, 3-2 (UTB2)
125 pounds, semifinals: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. Troy Spratley, OKS, 8-3
Session 3 (Friday)
Penn State has eight wrestlers remaining in the tournament, with all of them in the semifinals.
As a team, the Nittany Lions have amassed 105.5 points to outpace Nebraska by 39.5 points.
Bellefonte grad Jude Swisher is only Centre County wrestler still competing. He needs one more win to secure All-American honors.
285 pounds, consolation third round: Christian Carroll, W, dec. Cole Mirasola, PSU, 9-6. With the loss, Mirasola is eliminated from the tournament.
157 pounds, consolation third round: Jude Swisher, P, dec. Ethen Miller, VT, 8-3. Swisher, who is a Bellefonte grad, needs one more win to secure All-American honors.
141 pounds, consolation third round: CJ Composto, P, dec. Braeden Davis, PSU, 5-2. Davis is eliminated from the tournament with a 2-2 record.
285 pounds, consolation second round: Cole Mirasola, PSU, tech. fall Stephen Monchery, AS, 18-3 (6:03)
184 pounds, consolation second round: Caleb Campos, A, dec. Malachi Duvall, GM, 9-2. Duvall, who is a Penns Valley graduate, sees tournament come to an end.
197 pounds, quarterfinals: Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall Angelo Posada, S, 19-3 (4:50)
184 pounds, quarterfinals: Rocco Welsh, PSU, injury def. Silas Allred, Neb., 6:02
174 pounds, quarterfinals: Levi Haines, PSU, tech. fall Beau Mantanona, M, 18-3 (7:00)
165 pounds, quarterfinals: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, dec. Bryce Hepner, NC, 6-0
157 pounds, consolation second round: Jude Swisher, P, dec. Vinny Zerban, ISU, 6-3
157 pounds, quarterfinals: PJ Duke, PSU, tech. fall Brandon Cannon, OSU, 21-5 (5:24)
149 pounds, quarterfinals: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, dec. Casey Swiderski, OKS, 5-2 (SV)
141 pounds, consolation second round: Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Jordan Titus, WV, 10-6
133 pounds, quarterfinals: Marcus Blaze, PSU, dec. Drake Ayala, I, 5-3
125 pounds, quarterfinals: Luke Lillehdal, PSU, dec. Dean Peterson, I, 2-1 (UTB2)
Session 2 (Thursday)
The Nittany Lions sent eight into the quarterfinals as they went a combined 18-2 on the day. They amassed 40.5 points to lead Nebraska by 13.5, and Iowa sits in third with 25.5 points.
All of the participating former Centre County wrestlers were kicked to the consolation bracket, with one being eliminated.
285 pounds, second round: Ben Kueter, I, dec. Cole Mirasola, PSU, 4-0
184 pounds, consolation first round: Malachi Duvall, GM, pinned Joe Curtis, CB, 1:50. It was the 100th career collegiate victory for Duvall.
197 pounds, second round: Josh Barr, PSU, major dec. Dillon Bechtold, BN, 11-3
184 pounds, second round: Rocco Welsh, PSU, major dec. Rylan Rogers, L, 13-4
174 pounds, second round: Levi Haines, PSU, tech. fall Nick Fine, CB, 21-5 (5:26)
165 pounds, second round: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, major dec. Paddy Gallagher, OSU, 12-0
157 pounds, second round: Ty Watters, WV, dec. Jude Swisher, P, 7-1
157 pounds, second round: PJ Duke, PSU, pinned Luke Mechler, W, 1:38
141 pounds, consolation first round: Luke Simcox, NC, dec. Pierson Manville, ASU, 5-4. Manville, who is a State College graduate, is eliminated in first NCAA championships.
149 pounds, second round: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, pinned Jacob Frost, ISU, 2:23
141 pounds, second round: Brock Hardy, Neb., dec. Braeden Davis, PSU, 9-4
133 pounds, second round: Marcus Blaze, PSU, tech. fall Gage Walker, Miss., 17-2 (6:10)
125 pounds, second round: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, dec. Jett Strickenberger, WV, 4-2
Session 1 (Thursday)
Penn State went undefeated, and claimed bonus points in all but two of the wins. It scored 22.5 points to lead the team race over Iowa (15 points).
As far as former Centre County wrestlers go, Swisher was the only one to get a win of the three competing.
285 pounds, first round: Cole Mirasola, PSU, dec. Connor Barket, D, 13-7
197 pounds, first round: Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall Blake Schaffer, KS, 20-4 (5:43)
184 pounds, first round: Silas Allred, Neb., dec. Malachi Duvall, GM, 3-1
184 pounds, first round: Rocco Welsh, PSU, tech. fall Caleb Uhlenhopp, UV, 19-4 (6:31)
174 pounds, first round: Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Grant O’Dell, BM, 1:33
157 pounds, first round: Jude Swisher, P, dec. Dylan Evans, Pitt., 8-2
165 pounds, first round: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Cody Walsh, DX, 21-5 (3:45)
157 pounds, first round: PJ Duke, PSU, pinned Yannis Charles, MS, 1:55
149 pounds, first round: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, tech. fall Austin McBurney, B, 19-4 (5:34)
141 pounds, first round: Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Haiden Drury, UV, 2-0
125 pounds, first round: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, major dec. Mack Mauger, Miss., 11-2
141 pounds, first round: Luke Stanich, L, tech. fall Pierson Manville, ASU, 21-6 (7:00)
133 pounds, first round: Marcus Blaze, PSU, tech. fall Gabe Whisenhunt, ORS, 17-2 (5:30)
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 12:05 PM.
